emperor of steel
The head
Kung! Thud!
Swoosh! Wheeeing!
In the wilderness overlooking the humongous castle, there was a grey-robed wizard, and a knight clad in golden armor.
As the dark energy rose from the hand of the wizard, red lava rose from the ground.
The lava streams, which seemed like giant snakes, wished to get stuck to the knight like a whip.
But the knight who was spewing a golden aura gave rise to an illusion of an angel with a shield who appeared in the air to prevent the lava from getting close.
No, the knight didn’t stop by just blocking it.
The knight took an offensive stance in a second and was ready with his sharp and shining sword, which he wanted to drive into the wizard.
‘This!’
Puck-!
The wizard who was trying to stop the knight got pushed back by the golden-armored knight’s attack. The knight’s sword was dripping with blood.
“Die, Devil Saymon!”
At the shout from the knight, the grey-robed wizard, Saymon, ground his teeth.
With all his strength, he tried to block the knight’s incoming sword and asked,
“Devil? Are you saying that this body belongs to the Devil?”
“Yes, I am! The city and estates are filled with that filthy dark magic of yours! How can one cause such a commotion if not the devil!?”
Saymon was astounded and couldn’t respond to him.
The words from the knight were indeed true.
Saymon was the wizard in the 9th circle.
And just as he had said, with the use of dark magic, he managed to take down two kingdoms and an estate.
However, apart from the facts that the knight just spoke of, there was another thing that had to be taken into consideration.
The things that Saymon took down were the nobilities that stood in front of him and the vested interests which were like parasitic to him.
And as for the innocent people, he hadn’t laid a finger on the ones who knew nothing.
On top of that, those who surrendered were saved.
And that wasn’t all.
He also saved those people who were being kept captive by humans and living their lives like slaves.
Which was why other people from a different race called him the ‘Dark Sage’ and the ‘Liberator Fairy’.
But the knight decided to turn away from the truth. Technically, the truth was distorted.
“Keuk, you’ll see and hear the stars as you live.”
At the laugh of the knight, Saymon spoke again,
“Rakan, what did I do wrong? Was it wrong for me to take revenge on those who feed off of good people and suck our country dry?”
Tears filled the eyes of Saymon as he spoke.
“If you had eyes, you would have seen it too; you could’ve heard it too. It is the royals who destroy the lands with their greed, harmed the good people and enslave the half-breed tribes. Aren’t they the true devils!?”
Nevertheless, Rakan firmly shook his head.
“No, they are different from you—the one who decided to mess up the whole world with evil dark magic!”
“Kukk, different you say? Okay, they are different. I at least didn’t live like a lamb that followed the words of God and bite the weak like a wild dog.”
“Shut up! Don’t even try to deceive me with that desire overflowing tongue of yours!”
“You stupid one! You have already been deceived! By the wild dogs which overlaid a sheepskin on them!”
Saymon was building up magi.
Darkness was storming at his fingertips.
With teary eyes.
The tears which he thought had long dried were forming once again as he thought of the grief and the unsettled anger that he could never erase from his thoughts.
* * *
20 years ago.
Saymon was an ordinary wizard of Veritas Magic Tower.
There was not supposed to be an outstanding mana absorption for the poor commoners.
As he was in a Magic Tower with a status he wasn’t supposed to possess, the others had always been angry at him and despised him.
And naturally, he had to take the dirtiest work in the Magic Tower.
But he endured it all with a lot of hard work.
All the ingenious ideas and the papers he worked hard on were taken away by the senior wizards and elders.
Nevertheless, not once had he ever complained about it.
‘As long as she is here… as long as she looks at me and be with me. I can bear the weight of the world!’
For the beloved woman that he loved. Only for her.
He could forget the pain of the past, be happy in the present, and dream of a better future.
But they…
Those greedy wizards and the ravenous aristocrats that move alongside them took her away.
The one human who was precious to Saymon.
And that… was something he could never forgive…
Their evil deeds had driven her to death.
Saymon was filled with rage.
He had lost his reasoning and ran toward them.
But… he was incompetent.
The power of a Circle 4 wizard was almost close to nothing.
Eventually, he was asked to abandon the Magic Circle and was kicked out of the Magic Tower.
Saymon had lost everything.
Powerless, lifeless and with no loved ones.
Yet Saymon wanted to live.
He created another reason to live.
Revenge. He burned away everything and raised himself up to live a life where only black ashes would remain.
‘If you guys look up to God, then I’ll just have to hold the hand of the Devil!’
Saymon, who had grudges till the deepest parts of his bones, returned to them with the power of darkness.
With a legion of Black Golems that trampled and swept everything away.
* * *
“Get lost, Rakan! I have nothing I want to see from a guy like you!”
“Keuuk!”
The dark storm that was formed and surrounded by a circle of magic swept away Rakan.
A magic circle that was full of complex symbols and formulas burning with blood.
Soon the magic circle began to radiate luminescence.
And finally, the circle revealed the golems.
The summoned golems moved their fists at once in unison.
One by one, they released an overwhelming attack with huge power.
If in that place was the strongest monster, Twinhead Ogre, it would turn bloody too. However, Rakan was different.
He was the Holy Knight, the ultimate knight of all, the Sword Emperor which had cut through all the giant golems in an instant with his Orichalcum sword that was overlaid with Hyper Aura.
“Take this! Saymon!”
‘Kuk, this, this is…!’
To go against the Hyper aura sword, Saymon had taken out the dark magic spearhead.
Kukung-!
Powerful shock waves and dust spread across as the collision kept happening between the two superheroes.
The battle seemed to end in a draw.
But soon the scale of victory and defeat began to form.
Dark Ruin cracked as it came in contact with Rakan’s sword.
And with that.
Puhk!
“Keuuk!”
The heart of Saymon got pierced with the Orichalcum sword.
Moving alongside the sword, blood began to pour out.
Tremendous pain came along with the sacred power of magi purification.
But Saymon hadn’t fallen till the end.
Holding onto the sword that just pierced through his heart, he looked at Rakan with rage and hatred.
“Keu, Rakan! You foolish man! I curse you and your bloodline!”
Saymon, who was about to exhaust the last remaining embers of his life, cursed Rakan and his descendants.
Saymon’s blood which flowed toward Rakan’s feet began to draw a bizarre pattern of magic.
“Wait… and see! Your family will be as thin as a thread… your kin will suffer all kinds of bad luck and diseases… and you will be in agony as you helplessly watch!”
All the hair on Saymon’s body rose, and his wrinkled face turned into a Devil-like appearance. From his eyes were flowing out long dried tears.
A figure that could make Rakan tremble and fear even in his dreams.
But he soon tried to calm his restless heart. He pulled out his sword with a cold expression and ruthlessly slit Saymon’s throat.
Slack!
Devil, the saga that was flowing under the name of the Devil’s dark magic, had come to an end.